…wow, I can’t believe it, snow!!!! Yeahhh, even where I live – at the coast!!!! wow!!! sooooo cool!!!! Now I can’t wait for winter anymore!!! Antonia is arriving Wednesday. I’ll pick her up from the airport and from there we’ll be leaving directly to the mountains to go skiing – looking soooo forward to see her and show her around!!!!
…oh man, today I spent an hour at the police station in Horten. All I wanted was a confirmation that my driving licence was stolen (a couple of weeks ago in Göteborg…) The police officer was very friendly, wow haven’t seen sooooo many good-looking, handsome policemen at one place…;-) hehe… So they actually called the Austrian embassy and I could speak with a nice, helpful austrian lady and explained her what happened. Well, we both thought, it would be easier to just get the confirmation, the rest I would have to do by myself… Man, that sucks! Well, doesn’t help… Extra costs – don’t like that! 😦
Tomorrow, my Norwegian exam… Wish me luck for that – I haven’t studied that much but it should be fine… At least for an E… 😉 …as long as I don’t get an F – everything is fine;-)
It’s been great two weeks, working and getting to know the kids at Ringshaug school. Being a kid – how cool!!!! Always love to think about my childhood, so many great experiences… and the best of it – you never think, oh what’s gonna happen if… you just go for it!!!! 😉 As and adult you just think to much…;-) At least I sometimes do…;-)
Thursday: Cooking day with the kids. They prepared cookies, while we, the students prepared a spanish specialty – Spanish Omelette. I can’t believe how much oil Helena used!!!! 1!!!! Liter for 3 Omelettes!!!! Crazy!!!! 😉
...Helena, the spanish pro-cook...;-)...potatoe's swimming in the oil...;-)...Texas-Boy Torrie with the kids......the kids of the 6th grade... having lunch with them and enjoying the great cookies...
English, 7th grade – the kids had to perform the play: Goldielocks and the three bears… funny…;-)
...the 3 bears and Goldilocks...;-)...look at those socks...;-) hehe...
…after that I had a presentation about Austria. Was fun… I told them about my journey all the way up from Austria to Norway, that thieves broke into my car in Göteborg, gave them some details about the geography of Austria, Vienna, Innsbruck and of course skiing was a main theme;-)… Life as a skicoach, working with young racers, Hermann Maier and showed them the new Austrian Freeskimovie M.I.A. – watch the trailer here!
…and of course I couldn’t forget Dj Ötzi;-) …we watched him on youtube and sang the “Hey-Baby” Song and performed the “Burger Dance”…. hehe…
Friday:
…first two lessons Art – in the sewing room, kids are designing pillows, we started our own project – back to making “Friendship-bands”… It’s amazing, some things you’ll never forget… I used to make those back in the 90’s… hehe… so cool!!!
In the 3rd lesson we went with the kids down to the beach. Marit, the teacher wanted to show us the beautiful nature they live in… Really nice!!! …was fun to walk down and talk with some of the kids… On the way back I was talking with the “skaterboy”… He is a passionate freestyler in winter and a skaterboy in summer, had already some injuries…
...on the way to the beach... a lion-dog... hehe......that house - had to take a pic...;-)......7 D...:-)...Mel:-)...beautiful!!!!
…after that we had sport – I held the lessons… was fun… although a bit chaotic, there weren’t so many pieces of sports equipment available, so I had to improvise…;-)
......Helena and Torrie...
…weekend again;-)… just got back from the gym… training session… it’s gonna be more or less a studyweekend, as I have to get prepared for the upcoming exams… 😉
It’s been a while;-)… but not soooo much going on at the moment… Had a nice weekend at Horten. First time since, well let’s say ages, that I stayed in Horten and not been travelling around… Finally the sun came out on Saturday – first time since 3 WEEKS!!!! …weather kind of sucks here… Well, actually I don’t mind how the weather is like at all, just when you hear “another sunny day in Austria…”, then I think, well, sun would definetely be nicer than rain…;-)
Well, exams are getting closer, so I need to study a little, therefore the weather is good… There is always something good too…;-) Also I’m spending a lot of time in the gym, getting even stronger… Muscles are growing;-)…
Party on Saturday at Tønsberg. The spanish people are sooooo into partying, enjoying live in their ways. They are outgoing, social, love to move their body… Was a nice evening…
Wow, 3 weeks now to go and I’ll be leaving back to Austria. Looking soooo forward!!! But at the same time I do enjoy the last couple of weeks here… Toni is arriving next wednesday, I’m starting to plan what we r gonna do… It’s gonna be fun and sporty…:-)
First day at school yesterday… So cool, so many new impressions!!!! The kids are great, Class 7 D, 12 year old teenies, Marit, our responsible teacher is also very nice and sooo motivated!!! Kuuhhhll;-)
Some pics… Monday…
the spansk girls Belen, Sandra and Helen (don't understand anything in Norsk;-)...) and Mona (retired Norwegian psychologist...)...paper plane test... some of the kids............hyperactive boys...;-)
Tuesday…
...music lesson......those kids rock!
Thursday:
...1st grade...;-)...art lesson...wow... isn't that cool!!! the kid who painted that is 6 years old!! "Der Schrei", Edward Munch... find the original and compare...
Friday:
handcraft lesson...music lesson with the spanish chicas...;-)@ the gym...
Had a great first week at school!! Lookin’ forward to next week, lesson about Austria and sportslesson with Mel:-)
…nothing “exciting” going on throughout the week… “normal” student life… swimming, training, studying norsk and english… oh… I forgot… moved to another room at Ollebakken… hopefully more quiet (sleeping in a disco is not so much fun…), although it’s just a month to go… well, anyway… had to move, clean, now in the new room – the fridge makes weird noises… having a kitchen and fridge in the room… advantages and disadvantages… 😉
Some really good news: another friend will be visiting in two weeks!!!!! Soooooooooo looking 4ward to your visit TONI!!!!! 🙂
…why planning? or well lets say planning everything toooo much in detail… just go and see what it’s like! That’s my belief… anyway it always turns out differently than planned…;-) Maybe I’m a bit to laid-back? hmm… Well, I don’t want to go into further details…;-) It was a nice weekend, I guess I’m just toooooo spoiled;-)… hihi… (those notes r 4 me to remember;-)…)
So, Skitrip for the weekend was on the “go”. We (Christian, Martha and me) left Horten Friday afternoon, to drive first to Hokksund (Christian’s parents live there, changed car there…) and then further to C. parent’s cabin in the mountains, high above Nesbyen up at above 900 m, at the beginning of Hallingdal. It was good that we took C. dad’s car (Piggdekk = Spikes and 4wheel-drive) because it was snowing along the way and without “Piggs” we would have needed snow chains… Oh soooo cooooool to finally see some snow!!!! It seemed that it had been ages not being in the snow…;-) We arrived at the cabin quite late… It reminded me of a trip to Aspen. Me and some coaching friends were invited to the Fake’s Mountain Lodge in the Aspen Highlands…. sooooo cooool!!!! Some time ago… Powder alert in the backcountry of Aspen Highlands…
Surprise, surprise! Martha and me expected a little, tiny cabin but not this! 🙂 Really beautiful mountain lodge!!!!
the cabin...
Heating up the cabin, having dinner, sitting at the fire-place, chillin…
...inside......a heating matress... how cool is that!?
Next day… We decided on staying at Nesbyen skicenter (small skiresort where the cabin is…) as Hemsedal would have been an hour drive one way and we slept out, so everything would have been quite late… Powder was greeting…:-) I was sooooooooo looking forward to be back on my beloved skis;-)!!!!!! 🙂 It took some time until we finally hit the snow (getting skipasses, Martha had to rent out sb-boots…)…
Skiing. I’m loving it! 🙂 Although, I guess I’m really spoiled! Living in the Alps is just awesome! Norway has really many things to offer, sooooo beautiful nature and the cool thing is that it’s not sooooo crowded everywhere. But here in this area where we have been, aren’t “real” mountains, that’s further up North… Oh, I really miss the mountains!!! Living at sea-level and at the sea is nice but not in winter-time!!!! I guess it would have been different, if I’d had the chance going up to Tromsö…
It felt good being back on skis, even though after two hours my shins were killing me. That’s normal. Race boots = stiff = autsch;-) Just the first two or three times, then everything is fine… my body has to adjust to skiing. I’ve trained hard, am well-prepared but still, I can feel the past knee surgeries… hmmm… sucks!!!!
We had a fun day on snow. Christian on Telemark-skis and Martha on the Snowboard…
...Christian......Martha...
…a guy and two girls. How does a man feel in this situation? In HEAVEN…:-) None of them was able to cook dinner for the 3 of us, so it was my duty to cook;-) and feed them… hihi…. On Mel’s menu: codfish, vegetables and rice… Paradise for me – cooking in a kitchen where everything is there! SISTAAAAAA, sooooo looking 4ward to come home!!!!
Sunday… Got up early to go to skiing to Hemsedal. It was raining, really warm at that altitude. Windy, the area in clouds… We packed everything to leave straight away… The mountain road down was in sh… condition, soooo slippery, very icy… The weather didn’t change, so our local guy advised it would be senseless to go to Hemsedal. It wouldn’t be worth going there… so 4 hours drive… back on the way to Horten… Martha and me were a little disappointed but at the same time it was good for me not to go…
Let me tell you why… Pictures first… Girls playing around…
...a good one......it was just a meter...
I’m 29 and I like to do crazy, silly things. Why not sometimes be and behave like a child?;-) Actually I’m still a child;-) (never learn from mistakes…or never want to learn from my “mistakes”;-)…) …we were waiting outside for C. so I thought, why not jump of the balcony… it wasn’t high, there was snow… wet snow… but… First jump… landed on the hard ground… twitch in the knee… sh… why… the leg is strong… it’s a pain I’ve experienced before… Arthrose is greeting… just sucks sooooo bad!!!! it’s already better now but just sucks!!!! hate it!!!! …will be fine 2morrow again… or the day after… 😉 My life-motto: NEVER give up!!!! ;-)…
...the 2 girls......wouldn't mind owning such a home in the "mountains"...
…Babs, a friend of mine wanted to come to visit me at wednesday and stay for the whole week but because of some troubles in her family, she had to cancel her flight. I was sooo looking forward but, well… Another time!
Left Horten Friday morning to go to Göteborg. Some swedish freeski-buddies were presenting their film: Catch us if you can! by Generation Flinga – a freeski film just with girls!!!! Really cool!!! http://www.generationflinga.se
But before that – ferry to Moss and then 3 hours drive to Göteborg, finally got some winter tyres (was cool to watch men working;-)…), finding my way around in this huge city, shopping, hanging around in the city, searching for a good parking place (which took some time…)…
Parked my car near the opera house and left to find Lounges – the bar where the movie was going to be presented and where I would find Sara… One of the athletes in the movie I know… I was on the guest list, at the entrance I met Janette Hargin, also know her from skiing… Good to see some familiar people! Going there all by myself and hardly knowing anybody was quite a challenge;-) …of course the girls were very busy and sooooo many people came to see them… Anyway met another freeski-girl, Karolina Ekman and had a nice chat with her… Tombola and after that they were showing the film on the “big” screen – it’s a very cool film with a lot of passion, great skiing, big jumps and crashes AND just with girls!!!! Very cool!!!So met a lot of people, after the film was presented, had more time to chat with Janette and Sara… Got to know cool people and met the one and only – JAMIE PIERRE!!! Such a cool guy and soooo down to earth!!! U rock man!!!
...me, Sara, Jamie and Janette...
…walked back to my car around 4.30 a.m. and got a shock when I got there! My car was broken up!!!! First I thought, well maybe I’ve forgotten to lock it but no, not my fault! I was happy that just at this moment a security guy showed up and was soooo helpful to me!!! A nice Aussie guy working and living in Göteborg… He told me that this happened to them too, just a year ago but not in Sweden, in Norway!!! It’s a big city, so… Sh… happens;-)… I was really surprised that the thieves actually didn’t steal much. First I thought, everything was still here but later I recognized that they had stolen one of my bags. Can’t believe that because what would thieves do with english and norwegian books???? 😉 Really happy that they left everything else in my car – my bike, downjacket, sleeping bag, soooo many things and they didn’t take it!!! Thxxxx a lot!!!! 🙂
Actually I had planned to sleep in the car but not anymore… At least – not at this place!!! …being 120% awake by this incidence I was searching for another place where I could park and sleep in the car… Well, found one, not a good one though, so I tried to sleep but couldn’t… Still a bit scared;-)… I said to myself, this incident can’t happen twice, well although, you’ll never know…;-) Left this place, drove around – I think it was already 6 a.m… 😉 …finally found a very good one and stayed there to sleep for a couple of hours…
...thieves left a bit of a mess...
Got up at 10 a.m., quick breakfast, parked my car outside town to bike to the city, went to the police station in Göteborg, spent an hour there, very helpful police officers, a bit sightseeing, shopping (oh man – normal prices!!!! soooo coooool!!!! – went to a Coop Big market, a huge grocery store, like in the States… – HUGE!!! it felt like being in paradise!!!! as Norway is twice as expensive as Austria, I got lots of groceries there…), left Göteborg around 4 p.m. – back in Horten, met my neighbour Christian, to whom I had to explain what happened…;-)
...took this pic while the police officer went out of for a moment... like the police man in the back......Downtown... Göteborg city...at the harbour...Candy shop... sugar paradise - yeahhhh!!!!...happy people making fun of themselves... 🙂
…Weekend is over, just brought Sarah to the train station – another friend who I really enjoyed showing around and was happy that she came to visit!On the way to the train station it started snowing!!!! Really cool!!! So Winter is not far away anymore, the skiarea in Hemsedal (www.hemsedal.com) is opening next weekend and we are thinking to go there the week after…
Wow, so many new impressions from just a weekend…;-) Had a great time with Sarah, such a cool girl – exploring the Telemark region and Oslo City…
I go back a little… Thursday evening – Norwegian class… Sarah joined in and was pretty fascinated by the “multi-culti people” in class. Actually there are quite a few nationalities represented in class. Vietnam, India, Pakistan, Spain, Poland, Austria… all of them trying to learn Norwegian…
So the weather forecast for Friday promised a beautiful day and I considered it would be the best to take the chance and show Sarah the beauty of the Telemark Region. 3 hours drive to Gaustatoppen but worth every minute! We started to hit the road around 8 a.m. An hour to late but we couldn’t get out of bed earlier…;-) So on the road, stopped at Heddal stavkirkje and soon arrived the mountain road leading us through Sauland and further to Gaustatoppen. Still on summertyres – yes, some people never learn from their mistakes;-) until it hurts, one of them is me;-) but I REALLY wanted to change them the day before as I knew we were going to the mountains… Sarah is my witness! But they didn’t have my tires on stock, so still waiting for them… Should be here tomorrow though…;-) Anyway snow was greeting and there it was – snow and ice on the road;-) but I didn’t stop and went further, as I knew it’s gonna be okay and it wouldn’t be so far anymore until we reached the top of the pass… As the road conditions got worse, I decided it’s a NO-go and not worth going further. So we stopped along the road, mounted my NOT 100% fitting snow chains with expander… A car stopped and the man asked us if we needed help, the second question was “Summertyres?” – yeah, I know, really stupid and I’m actually always laughing at tourists coming to Austria in winter with their summertyres on…;-)
Left the car behind and hiked and hiked and hiked…;-) At 3 p.m. we reached the top of Gaustatoppen and again such a BEAUTIFUL view from there!!!
...hiking up there...
Sarah and me @ Gaustatoppen, 1883 m...
…by the time we got back to the car it was already dark and we still had the most adventurous part before us…;-) Getting down this icy road without killing us or trashing the car…;-) So we had to adjust the snow chains and went for it… 10 km/h maximum speed… down the road… with the somehow fixed snow chains… went well… suddenly we heard a noise… Sarah: “Homma die Schneekette verloren?”, Mel: “Na, des kun nit sein… oba schaug amol zur Vorsicht nach…” Sarah: “Die oane Schneekette is weg…”, 100 m back the road one of the snow chains was lying in the snow;-)… but we made it down to the dry road and yes, the next thing to do is: BUY WINTER TYRES Mel…;-) We came back to Ollebakken around 11 p.m. completely exhausted…
Saturday afternoon… Oslo… Karl Johansgate and many, many shops…
Sunday – cultural day with Sarah… and me a complete “Kulturbanause”… but it was fun. She opened up my mind for other things than just sport…;-) Telthusbakken, botanical garden, Munch museum, Opera house – explored that on foot and after that we got our bikes and cycled to the Royal Palace, the Viking museum and Vigelands Park…
MELs' Blog 